


Dirty Deeds

by orphan_account



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Canon-Typical Violence, Implied/Referenced Abuse, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Organized Crime, Vigilantism
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-10
Updated: 2018-09-10
Packaged: 2019-07-10 19:07:07
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,443
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15955631
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Markus Manfred: famous painter, part time leader of Jericho; a vigilante justice group who uses less than legal means to protect those who need protecting.Connor Anderson: the DPD's youngest detective.Romeo and Juliette have nothing on this.(Or, Markus, leader of what the cops considered a criminal organization falls in love with a detective. It goes about as well as to be expected.)





	Dirty Deeds

**Author's Note:**

> ? I don't really know, y'all. This isn't your standard crimeboss!au. This is something hopefully a little different.
> 
> Not beta'd, as usual. 
> 
> Title from AC/DC's "Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap".

Markus knows what it’s like to live in luxury. His father has money. He has money. Carl has always been adamant about helping those less fortunate though. Markus has a feeling he meant donations and volunteer work (which Markus does also do) as opposed to the methods of questionable legality that Markus also uses, but hey.

He keeps everything non-violent to the best of his ability. Extortion is so much cleaner. Their name is generally enough to scare people straight. Occasionally, he makes an exception. 

They’ve never killed anyone, at least. Just roughed them up a little, and went on their way. 

They have a careful system in place. They have to. If they make a mistake, that means prison time for all of them. They keep their identities hidden for the most part. They vet their clients carefully. 

People who need help with something make an appeal to Simon. Josh checks into the truth of the story, makes sure the evidence backs up the claims. They pick the cases they want as a group, and then Markus and North handle the dirty work. Most of the time, it’s just an email with several incriminating attachments. Sometimes, it takes a little more convincing. 

They’ve earned quite a reputation for themselves. Jericho will protect those who can’t protect themselves. They aren’t a crime organization in the typical sense, though they certainly aren’t operating in a way the law would take too kindly to. They aren’t killers for hire, they aren’t running drugs, nothing like that. Not at all. They’re more of a vigilante justice group. Who blackmail the bad guys. Sometimes beat them up a little. It’s fine. No big deal. 

Sure, more often than not their clients could go to the police. That takes time though. They need to compile evidence, gather intel. Sometimes, the matters are time sensitive. Jericho isn’t beholden to the letter of the law, and can skip a few steps to save time. 

They never ask for anything in return. Markus has enough money, makes enough with his artwork and business endeavors. This is a community service he offers. The other three are comfortably on his payroll.

All that being said, it works for them, and they get to help those less fortunate in some extremely gratifying ways. Markus will call that a win any day.

Markus and North are playing chess, Josh a silent spectator as North steadily loses her shit with each piece she loses, when Simon pushes into the room. 

“Hey, I have something. I think we’re gonna want to take this one on now.”

Markus turns his full attention to Simon, who opens the door wider. Simon only ever brings emergencies into the group directly. 

“Come on, Kara. It’s okay.”

The woman who follows Simon in wrings her hands nervously as she takes in the three seated in the room. She has a bruise on the side of her face.

Markus immediately stands up and offers her the chair he was just in. “Come on, sit down. What can we do for you?”

Simon nods at her encouragingly. “Just tell them what you told me.”

She sits in the chair Markus vacated for her. “It’s about a little girl I nanny. Her name is Alice. Her father is an addict… and he’s abusive.”

She gestures to the bruise on her face. “I need to get her out of that house. I would go to the police, I have enough evidence to get him locked up for good, but Alice would end up in foster care. It might take me months to get her back, if I ever could. I love her. She’s my whole world. My fiancé and I, we want her. She’s already like a daughter to us. I was hoping you might be able to help me get Todd to give up his parental rights voluntarily.” 

Markus nods, already thinking. “You said you have evidence?”

Kara pulls a phone out of her pocket and fiddles with it for a second before she passes it over to Markus wordlessly. 

Josh and North huddle behind him so they can see the screen: a poorly lit video shot through what appears to be a bunch of stuffed animals. Like Kara had set up her phone to catch Todd in the act without the camera being spotted. In the video, they can all see clearly as Todd cracks a belt against his daughter’s body despite her cries of pain.

North makes a noise behind him and Markus locks the phone before it finishes. He hands it back to Kara, feeling anger rolling through him already. 

“Give us everything you know about him. His full name, where he works, any online alias you know he uses. Anything you can give us. Then give me three days. On Friday, pack as much of her stuff as you can and take Alice to your place. I’ll pay Todd a visit personally. After I finish with him, I’ll stop by your place and give you the all clear. He won’t bother you again.”

Kara stands up and pulls Markus into a hug suddenly. “Thank you. Thank you so much. I’ll give you all the information I have. Anything that can help.”

Kara sits with Josh, giving him every detail she has on Todd Williams which he types into a computer file while Simon looks up the rules for voluntary relinquishment of paternal rights in the state of Michigan. 

When Kara leaves, they sit down together to hash out the plan. 

“We need these papers to be official, or Kara and Luther will get in trouble. We have to get the court to sign off on Todd giving up his paternal rights, and then the adoption papers legally giving Alice to Kara and Luther,” Simon summarizes for them to start off.

“Do you remember the judge we helped back in October?” Markus asks, knowing they all will.

When everyone nods, he continues. “I’m going to go see him. Take him out for lunch tomorrow. We’ll get whatever papers we need in order, and I’ll get Judge Norton to make everything neat and legal. He’s a good guy, he’ll agree to it when he sees the evidence and we explain Kara’s worry about the foster care system. Then we’ll file everything with Elizabeth. She works for the state, she should be able to get it into the system without raising any suspicions.” 

It’s good to know people in the right places. Their whole operation doesn’t work otherwise.

In the end, they do just that. Judge Norton is all too eager to help them, watching the videos with a tight-lipped grimace. Elizabeth has confidentially told them she’ll have no trouble filing the papers. Now, all they have to do is wait. 

North and Markus go to Todd’s house on Friday evening, glancing into the windows. When it’s clear he isn’t home, Markus unlocks the door with the key Kara gave them. They spend the next hour rearranging furniture so they can have a good set up.

“You’re so fucking dramatic, Markus,” North comments, watching with crossed arms as he sits in the chair and makes sure the light behind him makes his face hard to see.

“Excuse me, some of us are famous and easily recognizable.”

“And you like the drama of it.”

“Shut up and stand behind the chair like a good enforcer. We have like five minutes before he gets here.”

North rolls her eyes, but moves as requested. 

“Just once, I want to be the one that does the bullshit monologuing and you can stand here and look pretty,” North says, draping herself over the back of the chair.

“Don’t even play like that. Everyone knows you like doing the silent intimidation thing. Plus, your ego would never let me be the pretty one.”

Whatever, likely sarcastic and cutting, remark North was about to make is cut off by headlights flashing over the windows.

“He’s here. Time for business.”

North straightens up, and Markus sets the file on the table, just as Todd pushes in through the front door. He freezes when he sees them.

“Who the fuck are you?”

“Unfortunately, you’re not in a position to be asking questions here. Have a seat.”

“I don’t fucking think so.”

“Come on, Todd. We can do this easy. We’re here from Jericho. Maybe you’ve heard of us?”

Todd’s face goes gratifyingly pale in the lowlight. 

“Perfect, that makes this part easier. Now sit.”

Todd does.

“It’s been brought to our attention that you like to hit little girls. We don’t like that. And, it appears that’s just the icing on the cake with your rap sheet.”

Markus flips open the file he has, shoves a few sheets forward.

“Soliciting sex from minors. Buying and selling red ice. Selling stolen merchandise. The list goes on. Should I keep going?”

Todd shakes his head mutely. 

“Smart man. Now, here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to sign your name, all nice and pretty, on this paper here, giving up your parental rights to your daughter Alice.”

“Why the fuck would I do that?”

Markus frowns at him. “Now, now, Todd. No need to take that tone. You’re going to do that because you don’t want to go to prison, isn’t that right? Do you know what they do to guys like you in prison? It isn’t pretty. It’ll be much less painful this way, trust us.”

Todd makes to lunge across the table, but North is faster. She gracefully moves around so she can pull Todd back into his chair with an arm barred across his throat and a knife pressed to his thigh.

“I wouldn’t, if I were you,” she hisses in his ear.

Markus sighs. “Here I thought we were getting along so well.”

He pulls a gun out of his jacket and sets it on the table, in sight but out of Todd’s reach.

“Here’s how this is going to go. You’re going to sign the papers. My friend and I are going to leave, and we’ll never see you again. You’ll stay away from Alice, and away from Kara, otherwise this folder here will get anonymously dropped off with the DPD. There’s enough here to get you locked away for good.”

Markus pushes the right papers forward. “Sign those. Sign those, and we’ll get out of your hair.”

Todd picks up the pen, made uncomfortably stiff by North’s unrelenting grip. “You’ll leave me alone?”

Markus holds his hands up. “We’ll leave you alone. Of course, we’ll be monitoring you. We have to make sure you don’t go near Alice again, but other than that.”

Todd signs the papers. Markus pulls them back and looks over them to make sure it’s filled out correctly. He nods at North when they check out.

“One more thing, while we have your attention. If you ever reach out to another fourteen-year-old girl for sex again, I’ll cut your dick off. I’ll make what Lorena Bobbitt did to her husband look like a mercy. If you so much as even look at another little girl, I’ll know. I’ll know, and I’ll find you,” North adds, tightening her arm around Todd’s neck. “Do we understand each other?”

Todd is quiet for a beat too long as far as North is concerned, so she presses the tip of the knife into his leg. Not enough to break skin, but the threat is there.

“I understand.”

“Good. Nice doing business with you, sir,” Markus says, gathering the papers up and shutting them away neatly. 

“Let’s go.”

Markus picks up his gun and doesn’t take his eyes off Todd as North lets him go. They back up towards the door, but Todd doesn’t make any motion to get up. As soon as they’re outside, they take off at a run to get back to the car they stashed a few blocks away.

Markus starts it up, and he drives to Kara’s apartment, carefully obeying all the traffic laws.

“What a fucking creep,” North comments, putting her feet up on the dash.

Markus frowns at her. “Feet down, North. How many times do I have to tell you how unsafe that is?”

North stares at him in disbelief. “Christ, every time you do something cool you go and ruin it with some stick in the mud dad comment watching out for my health.”

“If we get into an accident, you could break your legs! Or worse.”

North makes a show of dropping one leg, then the other, back down to the floorboards. “Chill out, dude. Feet on the floor, see?”

“Thank you,” Markus says, exasperated. 

Kara is waiting for them when they pull up. She opens the door as soon as North knocks.

“You both are okay?” she asks, worriedly glancing them over as she lets them in.

Markus nods, eyes landing on the little girl holding a stuffed fox and nervously looking at them from behind the legs of a giant of a man. 

“You must be Alice,” he says, moving to kneel in front of her. 

She nods shyly. 

“Hi, Alice. My name is Markus. I’m a friend of Kara and Luther.”

“Kara told me you were going to make it so I could stay here.”

Markus nods seriously. “I will, but only if you want to stay here.”

Alice nods immediately, hair flying wildly about her face. “Yes, please. I want to stay with Kara and Luther forever. We’re going to be a family.”

“Then you’ll stay here. You won’t ever have to see your father again.”

To Markus’s horror, she starts crying. 

“I- What did I do?” Markus asks desperately, turning to look at Kara.

North steps forward, eyes sad and understanding. “You didn’t do anything. She’s not upset. I’ll take her to bed while you guys talk.” 

North comes closer and offers Alice a hand, keeping her movements slow and predictable. Markus suddenly thinks about where North came from, and aches for the two of them.

Alice gently takes North’s offered hand, and lets North pick her up.

“I like your fox. Do they have a name?” North asks, already moving away down the hall.

Markus stands up, and shakes hands with Luther.

“I’m Luther,” the other introduces officially. “You don’t know what you guys have done for her. For us.”

“Markus. And I’m just glad we could help. All that you guys have to do is sign the adoption papers. We’ll handle the rest after that. It’ll be official once we file it with our contact at the state offices.”

“Thank you so much, Markus. Really, I can never repay you for this,” Kara says, looking over the papers Markus hands her.

Kara and Luther sign the papers, and Markus smiles at them. 

“I’ll leave you guys to get her settled in permanently. Todd shouldn’t bother you. We made ourselves pretty clear, but if something happens, you know where to find us.”

North is weirdly subdued in the car as he drives them back to headquarters where Simon and Josh are waiting for them to check in.

“We did good today,” she tells him softly, one hand on the door ready to get out once he’s parked. 

“We did,” he agrees. 

North nods once, to Markus, and then again seemingly to herself before she gets out. Markus sits for a second before he follows her into the office building they use as their base of operations.

Simon and Josh look relieved when they relay that the plan worked perfectly. Marcus hands Simon the documents they collected, and he nods.

“I’ll get these to Elizabeth.”

“We should go to Eden tomorrow, celebrate a job well done,” North says, lounging in one of the chairs in a way that looks particularly uncomfortable.

Markus shares a look with the other two and shrugs. “Sounds like fun to me.”

Eden is a night club Markus owns on the outskirts of Detroit. Markus likes to stop in every so often to make sure everything is running smoothly. Plus, it’s nice not having to pay for drinks. Though, technically he does pay for them in some form by buying the actual stock for the business. Whatever, the point is he likes to go to Eden. 

It’s Markus’s turn to get drinks from the bar, so he hauls himself out of the booth. The club is busy, as it always is on a Saturday night, but the second he gets close enough for the bartender to see him, she’s nodding in his direction. Another upside of owning the place. Traci’s blue hair flashes bright in the strobing lights of the club as she moves to get their drinks. 

He carefully grabs their drinks when they’re placed in front of him, thanking Traci with a grin. He hasn’t even made it a step away from the bar when he bumps into a solid chest, spilling whiskey and beer and whatever is in North’s awful concoction all over the person’s shirt.

“Oh my god, I’m so sorry,” Markus shouts over the music, turning to put the now mostly empty glasses down on the bar. Traci hands him a stack of napkins, which he takes gratefully. 

“It’s fine,” the guy promises him as Markus ineffectively tries to dry off his shirt with the napkins.

Markus glances up at the guy’s face, and freezes, hand awkwardly pressed into the stranger’s chest. Even in the low lights of the club, this guy is gorgeous. Of course. Markus would make a fool of himself in front of what might be the most attractive person he has ever seen. 

“Let me give you my jacket, at least. Then you can get out of your wet shirt,” Markus blurts, jerking his hand and the soggy napkins in it back.

The guy raises an eyebrow at him with a smirk. “Trying to get me out of my clothes already?”

Markus feels his face flush, but tries to play it cool. “Not yet. I’ll at least offer you a drink before I try that.”

“How about we start with a name before we get ahead of ourselves?”

“Markus.”

The guy’s eyes widen. “You’re Markus Manfred. I knew you looked familiar. The eyes should have been a dead giveaway. I’m a huge fan of your work. I think I’ve dragged everyone I know to all of your galleries. I’m Connor.” 

Markus shakes his hand. “Thank you. It’s not everyday I learn that my art is appreciated by a work of art.”

There’s a pause where Connor seems to process that before he laughs. “Do you use that line often?”

Markus shakes his head. “No. I’m normally much smoother than this.”

“Is that right?”

“How about I get you that drink and I’ll show you?”

Connor gives him a blatant once over before he grins. “Your friends won’t miss you? At least, I assume the three staring this way are your friends and not just fans of your paintings. They’re watching you pretty closely right now.”

Markus glances back to their booth, where North, Simon, and Josh are indeed watching them avidly. When he catches them, they turn away quickly. 

Markus turns back to Connor. “Unfortunately, yes those are mine, but they’ll live without me.” 

Markus gets Connor a drink, then another one. Connor is smart and sweet, talking insightfully about art and music. His posture is open, body language inviting. There’s just something about Connor, his warm eyes and the soft curls of his hair that make Markus brave, or stupid. Either one is probably accurate. 

Connor looks at him and says, “I don’t normally do this, but you mentioned earlier something about getting me out of this wet shirt?”

Markus nods eagerly, and leads him by the hand out to get a taxi.

Markus programs his address into one of the ones waiting at the curb, and when he sits back, Connor kisses him. Kisses him in the taxi, kisses him in the elevator on the way up to Markus’s apartment. Kisses him in the entry way as Markus fumbles to close and lock the door behind them. 

Markus guides him to the bedroom, leaving behind a trail of clothes in their wake. They tumble into the bed, and Connor laughs softly when Markus bumps his elbow on the nightstand in his haste.

“Someone’s eager. What happened to smooth?”

“You’re the one that asked me to get you out of your shirt,” Markus points out, pressing a kiss under Connor’s jaw.

Connor hums agreeably. 

“I wasn’t complaining,” he says, then gasps as Markus drags his blunt nails over his chest. “Definitely not complaining.”

Markus smirks. “Good.”

They don’t do a lot of talking from that point on.

Markus wakes up in the morning, sore in the best possible ways with a warm weight pinning him to the bed. Markus stays where he is, content and dozing. He’s extremely relieved that Connor is still here. That he didn’t sneak out sometime before Markus woke up. Eventually Connor stirs sleepily, before bolting upright in a panic.

Markus rolls over to look up at him, raising an eyebrow as Connor smiles down at him sheepishly. 

“Sorry. I uh… I don’t know how to handle this part.”

“The morning after letting a stranger take you home?” 

Connor nods. “Yeah, that.”

“Well, the way I see it, there are two ways we can play this. Option one, I roll back over and pretend to be asleep so you can sneak out, awkward and sad, and we never see each other again despite our obvious computability and the amazing sex.”

Connor hums thoughtfully. “Yeah, not really sure I like that option. What’s option two?”

“Option two, I cook us breakfast and you give me your number so I can take you out tomorrow night for dinner.”

“Like a date?” Connor asks, eyebrows raised.

“Definitely like a date.”

Connor smiles, leaning over and bracketing him in with his arms. “Definitely option two.”

Markus leans up to kiss him before pulling back to grin. “Good. I make a mean eggs benedict and everyone knows that’s the saddest breakfast to eat alone.”

Connor nods solemnly. “Of course. Now I’m honor bound to defend you from that fate. No one wants sad eggs benedict.”

Markus cooks breakfast, while Connor puzzles over the coffee machine until he eventually gets it to sputter to life without Markus’s intervention.

They eat. Markus kisses Connor goodbye at the door, which turns into them messily making out by the coat rack, which turns into Connor giving Markus an even messier blow job, holding him in place against the wall. It’s only fair that Markus return the favor. By the time Connor actually leaves, in an outfit Markus lends him, the sun is sinking low in the sky. 

“I really do have to go,” Connor says apologetically against Markus’s lips. 

“Okay. I’ll text you about dinner in the morning. I’m going to blow you away. You’ll love it.”

Connor laughs. “I’m sure I will. I can’t wait.”

Markus leans against his doorframe, watching Connor as he leaves. He closes the door long after Connor has disappeared from sight, still smiling.

North whistles when she sees him on Monday morning. She leaps up from where she’d been lounging in the rec room of the Jericho office just to yank down the collar of his shirt.

“That’s an impressive hickey. I want all the details. I can’t believe you left us behind.”

“I didn’t leave you guys behind. Simon drove,” Markus points out as he shrugs away from her grip on his shirt.

“Simon then also had to listen to these two whine all night about how you left them for dead without bringing them their drinks,” Simon says mildly, not looking up from whatever he’s reading on his tablet.

“Hey, we weren’t that bad,” Josh defends, frowning.

“Yeah, you were,” Simon says.

“Sorry Simon. It was worth it, though. At least on my end,” Markus says with a smirk.

“What’s his name? Do you want us to dig him up? Josh can find us all the dirt we could ever want.”

“His name is Connor, and he’s perfect so there’ll be no dirt.”

“Oh my god, Markus,” North groans. “You giant sap. You only spent a night with him.”

“Actually, I spent all day with him yesterday, too.”

North gapes at him. “You _what_? You never do that. He must have been some lay.”

“He was great. He’s smart, and he’s sweet. He likes art, and music, and he reads.”

“Are you seeing him again?” Josh asks curiously.

“Tonight,” Markus admits. “I’m taking him to Iridescence.”

North slaps him on the arm, hard. “I’ve been begging you to take me there for months. Markus, that’s not fair. Where’s the loyalty?”

“North, he figured out my coffee machine all on his own.”

North looks suitably impressed, before she shakes her head. “You’re _gushing_. When do we get to meet him?”

Before Markus can tell her ‘never’, Simon interrupts.

“What did you say his last name was?”

Markus frowns at Simon suspiciously. “I didn’t.”

Simon turns his tablet around. “This is him, right?”

Markus nods, smiling. “That’s him.”

Simon sets the tablet down, and pats the couch next to him. “He was the first result when I searched ‘Connor Detroit’. You might want to sit down.”

Markus raises an eyebrow in confusion. 

“He’s definitely distinguished, and you’re right; there’s not dirt.”

“Hah!” Markus says, gesturing triumphantly at North.

“That’s because he’s a detective, Markus. One of the youngest detectives on the force. That’s not all. His father? Also a detective. Lieutenant Hank Anderson.”

North laughs. She laughs, and laughs, and laughs. 

“Oh my god, you would fall head over heels for a detective after a one-night stand. You’re a rom-com cliché. I can’t believe this. I can see the headlines now. ‘Jericho leader finally caught after date with DPD detective.’”

Markus purses his lips stubbornly. “I don’t care.”

North looks at him, eyes wide. “Markus, we could go to _prison_. I’m not going to prison because you want to actually fuck the police.”

“He won’t find out,” Markus insist. 

“Markus. He’s literally a detective. From what I see when I search his name, he’s a damn good one. Plus, are you just going to lie to him the whole time? What kind of relationship is that?” Simon asks gently.

“Well, what am I supposed to do? ‘Sorry, Connor. I have to cancel our date tonight because I’m the leader of a what one might consider a criminal organization and I don’t want to get arrested’?”

“Markus, be reasonable,” Simon says with a frown.

“It’s not fair,” Markus whines, tossing himself dramatically down on the couch. Simon quickly moves to accommodate his theatrics.

“It’s not,” Simon agrees. “But you’ll only get hurt if you let it go on any longer.”

Markus nods unhappily. 

He has every intention of calling it off. He does. Really.

But then:

[Connor <3: 11:03a.m.]  
_I’m excited for dinner tonight. :) <3_

There’s a little heart in the message, for god’s sake. He’s not heartless.

[Markus: 11:04a.m.]  
_Me too! Wear something nice because we’re going all out. I’ll pick you up at 8. <3_

What the other three don’t know won’t hurt them.

Connor is waiting, looking comfortable and confident in his suit, outside his apartment building when Markus pulls up. Markus admires him as he pulls the door open. He himself always feels stifled and tense in suits. 

Connor stares at him for a second before he grins. “You clean up nice.”

“You’re not so bad yourself,” Markus says, and can’t help leaning across the gearshift to kiss him.

Connor smiles into it. “So where are you taking me?”

“You’ll see.”

Iridescence is on the sixteenth floor of a hotel, offering a gorgeous view of Detroit’s skyline. Connor looks noticeably impressed as the hostess leads them to a table right by one of the windows.

“Get whatever you like. Everything is great, so you really can’t go wrong. Do you like wine? I’ll get us a bottle.”

“I like wine,” Connor assures, before glancing down at the menu. He blanches a little.

“Markus, this place is expensive,” Connor hisses, leaning across the table like the fact is a secret. 

“It’s worth it,” Markus promises.

“I can never afford to take you to a place like this,” Connor admits, sounding almost ashamed of the fact.

Markus shakes his head. “That doesn’t matter to me. Connor, I have more than enough money. Let me do this for you. I want to.” 

Connor frowns, but eventually nods his acceptance. 

Dinner is nice. Connor talks about his job, and his family. Markus talks about his art, and his own family. Markus knows he should be finding reasons to end this, maybe sabotage it himself, but Connor laughs, bright and beautiful and he just can’t. 

Markus convinces himself, kissing Connor goodbye on his porch and already making plans for coffee during the week, that it’ll all work out. Connor won’t find out about his side profession, and they’ll live happily ever after.

“You still took him out,” North accuses in the morning.

Markus jumps guiltily. “No I didn’t.”

North stares at him, unimpressed. “You are honestly one of the worst liars. How do you think this is going to go?”

“I’m not a bad liar. You just know me really well,” Markus argues reasonably.

“Markus, I just don’t want to see you get hurt. I know you like him. It sucks, but nothing good comes out of this.”

Markus knows she’s being reasonable. He knows that she’s right, is the thing, but he just can’t accept it. Can’t begin to fathom not seeing Connor again. He already has two sketchbooks full of doodles. How can he, an artist, remove himself from one of the greatest sources of inspiration he’s ever encountered? It’d be suicide for his career. It’s a matter of professional integrity. 

He tells North as much, and she scowls.

“You’re fucking kidding me. Whatever, do what you want. I hope you know what you’re doing. If you drag the rest of us down with you for a guy you just met, Markus, I won’t be happy.”

“It won’t come to that,” Markus says, foolhardy confidence.

North scoffs, but leaves him alone.

(Hubris has always been Markus’s greatest weakness. His hamartia. His goddamn fatal flaw.)

Markus and Connor keep seeing each other. 

Markus meets Connor’s father. 

Markus introduces Connor to Carl and Leo.

Connor meets North, Simon, and Josh.

(“Okay, I fucking get it. He’s sunshine and rainbows. I’d gladly let him arrest me if he looked at me the way he looks at you,” North says afterwards, sounding put out.

Josh and Simon nod in agreement.)

Things are serious. Connor stays more at Markus’s apartment than he does his own. Markus brings Connor to all his gallery openings, and isn’t shy about sharing their relationship with the press. They occasionally babysit Alice for Kara and Luther together. Watching Connor with Alice makes him want things he hasn’t considered before.

They’ve been together for seven months, and things are going great. Markus has kept his side endeavors carefully concealed, and it doesn’t seem like it’s in danger of being uncovered. Connor has mentioned Jericho is passing before, just a side comment about how a lead comes up and then goes cold before the DPD can get to it. Connor has also said that he doesn’t put much urgency on Jericho related cases because they use non-violent methods against people who are not innocent themselves.

“It’s a bit of justice, to an extent,” Connor admits one evening, having another lead go cold on him. “Their methods aren’t ideal, but they do help reduce the amount of crime around the city in their own way. I don’t mind them taking some of the more dangerous criminals down. I prefer not to be shot at.”

“Do you often get shot at?” Markus asks, alarmed.

Connor shrugs. “Occasionally. I’ve never actually been shot yet, though, so fingers crossed my good fortune continues.”

“If you could keep it that way, I’d appreciate it.”

Connor smiles at him softly, lacing their fingers together and kissing the back of Markus’s hand. “I’ll try my best. For you.” 

Chloe Kamski is just as beautiful and put together in person as she is in the press. Markus is surprised to see her sitting in the Jericho offices. Just her presence in the room makes the office space look dingy and small, though Simon takes the appearance of their office very seriously. 

(“We want people to take us seriously, but if you keep leaving takeout containers on the counter, no one will,” Simon tells Josh, angrily picking up the cardboard box in question.

“Sorry, jeez.”)

“Mrs. Kamski. This is a surprise.”

“Please, just Chloe is fine,” she says with a tired smile.

Markus smiles in return. “Markus.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Markus. I have several of your pieces at home. I adore your work. I wish I were here meeting you under better circumstances.”

North, who has been watching Chloe with wide, adoring eyes since she walked in, leaps at the opening. “What can we help you with?”

“My husband is forcing me out of my own company. I’ve endured every horrible thing he’s deemed fit to do to me, but this is a step too far. I handle the finances, I push through initiatives, I help design and code our products. Sometimes I feel like I do more for CyberLife than he ever did. Recently, he started restricting my access to certain things. Told me I did too much, and he was going to take care of some things to help lighten my load.”

She stares at them, eyes hard. “I have never once complained about my workload. I enjoy my work. So, when he started doing this, I got suspicious. One of the things he gave me limited access to was company finances. I’ve handled finances since the company’s inception. Elijah is a simple man. It wasn’t hard to guess his password. He’s embezzling funds, though I haven’t yet figured out what for. He’s going to drag our company name through the mud. After everything I have put up with, all the emotional manipulation and physical abuse I’ve allowed, just for him to do this? I put everything I had into getting this company off the ground. I won’t stand for this. Not this. This is where I draw the line.”

She grimaces at them now, looking away. “I would go to the police, but I’m afraid of him. Of what he could do to me before they finish their investigation. Isn’t that funny? All this money, all the control I have over every other aspect of my life, and he’s the thing I can’t get passed.”

“We can help,” Markus assures.

They do. Elijah steps down, hands the entire company over to his wife, who quietly and efficiently sorts out everything he’d done before anyone is the wiser. Chloe has enough evidence, both of the abuse and the bad business that it seems cut and dry. Fairly easy to casually convince him to do what they want.

The thing is, Markus knows he has enemies. He’s just never had one who was once a co-founder of a multibillion-dollar company before. Nor have they ever been as clever.

He never thought it would come to this.

He gets a phone call on an otherwise normal Tuesday evening, and smiles when he sees Connor’s name on the display.

“Hey, babe.”

“Markus, listen to me, no matter what he says, you can’t do what he tells you. Just call the police, okay? I love you.”

“What?” Markus asks.

There’s a rustling on the end, and then another voice is talking to him. Markus recognizes it, though he’s never spoken to the owner.

“He doesn’t know, does he? That’s incredible. He doesn’t even know what you’ve done. Why he’s here.”

“What the fuck do you want, Kamski? I swear to God if you hurt him, I’ll kill you,” Markus promises. 

“That goes against your usual MO, doesn’t it? Fascinating. That makes this so much more fun. It’s like a test, if you will,” Elijah says, sounding for all the world like he’s having a great time.

“Fuck you.”

“That’s pretty rude. You kiss your cute little detective with that mouth?”

“Just let him go. He isn’t involved in this.”

“I don’t think I will. Why don’t you come get him, instead? I’ve got some of my own evidence to share with you.”

Elijah gives him an address. “Come alone.”

Markus is already out the door, hardly stopping to grab his gun on his way. 

“Oh, and Markus?” 

There’s a loud, echoing boom suddenly down the line. Markus pulls the phone away from his ear with a wince, and then realizes it was a gunshot.

“I’d hurry if I were you,” Kamski says over Connor’s voice cursing colorfully in the background.

The line goes dead, and Markus immediately dials North, fumbling to get his key into the ignition of his car with his trembling hand.

“That fucking asshole has Connor,” he says as soon as she picks up.

“What? Who has Connor? Where?”

“Kamski, that sleazy piece of _shit_. Gave me an address and told me to come get him alone. North, Kamski shot him. Shot him while I was on the phone to hear it. I don’t know where, or how bad he’s hurt. North you have to help me get him back.”

North makes a noise, something like a growl. “That absolute, spineless, coward. Connor had nothing to do with it, but he was too afraid to deal with us directly. I’ll be there. Give me the address. I’ll get Josh and Simon on backup.”

Markus rattles off the information. “Let me get there first, and then give me ten minutes. Make it look like I listened to his orders. I don’t know what he’ll do to Connor if he thinks the cops or something are on the way.”

“We’ll get him out of this, okay? It’ll be okay, Markus.”

Markus grimaces. “Yeah.”

“I’ll see you soon.”

Markus doesn’t know that it’ll be okay. Connor’s hurt. Markus got Connor hurt. Of all the ways he thought their relationship might go wrong, this was a scenario that never crossed his mind. 

The address he was given is that of a CyberLife warehouse. Markus parks his car badly in front of one of the doors. There’s a man standing by it who is obviously armed and waiting for him. Markus keeps his face blank as he lets the man lead him through the warehouse.

He can hear voices, one he recognizes immediately as Connor, and he moves in front of his escort and makes a beeline in that direction.

Kamski trains his gun on Markus as soon as Markus comes into view. He briefly takes a moment to notice the scattered armed guards around the room, before his attention goes elsewhere. He doesn’t pay Kamski any mind, eyes pulled to Connor.

Connor, who is bleeding from a hole in his shoulder.

“Damnnit Markus, you weren’t supposed to come get me. You fucking idiot,” Connor says. 

Markus spares Kamski a glance, before tentatively moving closer. 

“Oh, go on then,” Kamski says with a flick of his gun in Connor’s direction. “It doesn’t matter now, of course. I have you right where I want you.”

So Markus goes over to him and falls on his knees in front of the chair he’s cuffed into. 

“You should have called the cops, Markus. What the fuck are you doing here?” Connor reprimands softly.

Kamski laughs delightedly from behind them. “I haven’t told him yet. Figured you could share with him. It’ll be almost fair, after what you did to me.”

Markus hugs Connor carefully, squeezing his hand until Connor gets the hint and closes his fist around the bobby pin Markus presses into his palm.

“I’ll explain everything, I promise. North is on her way,” Markus tells him, quiet enough that Kamski doesn’t hear.

Connor draws back sharply, looking at him like he’s crazy.

“What do you want, Kamski?” Markus asks, standing up and putting himself between Elijah and Connor. It doesn’t block any of the other men from having a good line on Connor, but it makes Markus feel better. 

“You’re clever, I’ll give you that, but I’m clever too. It didn’t take me long to connect the dots. The clues. Figure out who had visited me and laid my secrets bare. It only took a little digging, and I found you. Of course, by finding you, I also found _him_. What a beautiful weakness for someone in your profession to have.”

“He doesn’t have anything to do with my profession. You can leave him out of this.”

Kamski shakes his head with a pleased grin. “That’s the best part. He doesn’t know what you’ve done to land him here. He doesn’t understand. You’re going to have to tell him. You’re going to have to tell him, and I get to see you destroy everything you love just like you took everything I love from me.”

“You didn’t seem to care about Chloe too much when you were letting strangers put a gun to her head,” Markus points out evenly. “She showed me the video of that. You seemed pretty cold to me.”

Kamski scowls. “I knew he wouldn’t shoot. I would never cause her harm.”

Markus laughs. “She certainly had a lot of bruises that told differently, but sure. We’ll pretend that’s true.”

Kamski gestures with his gun. “Go on. Just get it over with and tell him. Get it out of the way now. I’m sure he suspects already. He is a detective, after all.”

North should be here, any moment. Markus scans the room, counts the number of armed guards Kamski has stationed about the place. Five men, plus Kamski. Six total. It’ll be a tough job, but they’ve handled four, just the two of them. If they can get a gun to Connor, and Connor can slip his cuffs, they’ll can take all them, hopefully. 

If Connor is willing to help him, once he knows the truth.

He pushes that thought away and scowls.

“I’m certain I don’t know what you’re talking about, Elijah.”

“Oh, but you do. Come on. Just come clean. Haven’t you wanted to tell him? What kind of relationship can be built on secrets? Even lies of omission are still _lies_ , Markus.” 

“Whatever it is, Markus, you can tell me,” Connor adds from his spot, briefly drawing Markus attention.

Connor nods at him, and moves his hand in a way that Markus knows means he got loose of the cuffs.

“You can tell him,” Kamski agrees gleefully.

Markus draws his lips into a tight line, before he blows out a breath. He looks at Connor apologetically. “I’m sorry, Connor.”

“Whatever it is, it’s okay,” Connor says gently.

Markus can’t look at him, bleeding out and trying to reassure Markus. When Markus is the one who got him kidnapped and shot. When Markus has been lying to him this whole time.

“I’m the leader of Jericho,” he says, quick and loud. He doesn’t want to have to repeat it. 

“What,” Connor says, flat. 

“It’s all true, Connor. He’s the leader of Jericho. The criminal organization you’ve been unable to get a good lead on,” Kamski elaborates helpfully.

“He would never have told you, but I’m afraid he tried to blackmail the wrong person this time.”

“You’re an absolute piece of shit, Elijah. The things you were doing to your wife. Embezzling funds from your company to fund your drug habits,” Markus says hatefully, still unable to look at Connor.

At that moment, North sneaks in from some unknown location and drops one of the guards. It’s all chaos after that.

Connor lunges up from his chair and grapples with the nearest gun wielding person.

Kamski curses, and lunges for Markus, wrapping an arm around his throat and dragging him away from the growing scuffle. 

He lets go when they reach a back office, and he points his gun at Markus triumphantly.

Markus can hear gunshots coming from the other room, and he can only hope North and Connor are the ones shooting.

“If your boy weren’t a cop, I’d kill him and make you watch. Instead, I’ll just have to settle for killing you instead. Killing you, while you have the knowledge that Connor probably hates you now.”

Markus goes to pull his own gun, but he doesn’t think he’ll be fast enough. He’s been caught off guard, and Kamski is going to use that to his advantage.

There’s the sudden sound of a gun going off, and Markus flinches, expecting to feel pain, but there’s nothing.

He opens his eyes, and Kamski is on the floor with a hole in his head. Connor is standing there, arm outstretched with gun smoking in his hand. 

They lock eyes.

“Connor.”

Connor shakes his head, putting the gun in his jacket and applying pressure to his shoulder.

“I don’t want to talk. Come up with whatever cover story you want. God help me, I’ll stick to it, but I don’t think I can look at you right now. I need time.”

Markus nods meekly. “Of course.”

The story, or what gets told around, is that Elijah Kamski was jealous of his, now estranged, wife’s friendship with Markus. He had then kidnapped Connor in an effort to get revenge. Everything that happened in the warehouse was an act of self-defense.

Connor, as promised, agrees to this version of events. He even puts it into his official statement with the DPD. 

Markus hasn’t seen Connor since he got loaded into the back of an ambulance. 

Markus tries not to mope.

Really, he does.

It’s just… He misses Connor. He misses his laugh, and his gentle smiles. He misses their conversations, and the late nights spent discussing movies or music or art. He misses everything.

“You’re so fucking sad to look at,” North says, softly stroking her hand over the top of his head which is cradled in her lap.

“I love him. I don’t even know how the bullet wound is healing up. Did he have to get stitches or did they use staples? Was it clean through, or did they have to dig it out? How long is he sidelined from work? I know they have to take so many days after firing a weapon on the job, plus the injury. What’s he doing, right now?”

North whistles. “I’m sorry.”

He’s glad that none of them have said ‘I told you so’, because they did. Honestly, this is the best-case scenario of Connor finding out. Him leaving them alone, and not hauling all their asses in for processing.

Markus hasn’t been sleeping well. He hasn’t slept alone in so long, and now there’s no one else in the bed with him. No other form to snuggle up to. No one to steal his pillow, or all the blankets. 

He spends the time painting. Awful, melancholy splashes of blues and greys. It takes him less than a week to have an exhibition to add into his gallery. A whole series.

He remembers Connor talking about going to his galleries. He wonders if Connor will come to a new one.

He releases the series under the title ‘Agape’. There are some of his early pieces of Connor, bright and beautiful. They slowly change, taking on that miserable hue to reflect the state of affairs now.

His focal piece is a 138x184 behemoth titled ‘Me Without You’. Where the rest of them were mostly abstract concepts, this one is realistic. 

Himself, shattered on the floor. The chunk where his heart would be missing completely. It’s messily done. Ugly in the most appropriate way.

Carl wheels himself over to his side at the exhibit opening, staring up at it.

“I don’t like this one,” Carl says.

He wonders what Connor would think of it.

He drains what’s left of his champagne and flags a waiter down for another one. “Me neither.”

It’s been three weeks.

He’s still awake when someone knocks lightly on his door at two-thirty in the morning. He doesn’t bother grabbing his gun, doesn’t bother checking the peep hole. He just doesn’t care anymore.

He’s surprised, and overwhelmingly relieved to see Connor standing on the other side.

He looks awful. Dark circles under his eyes, arm in a sling, clothes and hair rumpled. Markus hurts looking at him. He’s perfect. He’s everything Markus wants.

Markus doesn’t dare reach out to touch like he wants to. 

They watch each other quietly for a second before Connor steps forward slowly. Three slow steps until he can rest his forehead on Markus’s shoulder.

“I shouldn’t be here. I could lose my job, if people found out. If they found out who you were, and that not only I knew, but I covered for you. I just fucking miss you. So much.”

Markus laughs, eyes watering. “I miss you too. I’m sorry. I don’t want to make things difficult for you. I didn’t mean for you to get dragged in to all this.”

Markus carefully wraps his arms around Connor, and when the other doesn’t pull away, he clings.

“I’ve missed you so fucking much,” Markus admits into Connor’s disheveled hair.

“I don’t want to be mad at you anymore. I should care, but I just can’t stop loving you enough to give a shit. I remember telling you Jericho was low priority because your methods are so non-violent and you target criminals. I looked into Kamski. Got some information from Chloe. He was a piece of work. I can’t be angry that you helped her get out of that. Or Alice. Kara told me what you did for them. I just, how do I fault you for that?”

Connor takes a shaky breath before continuing. “Then I saw your fucking paintings. What the hell am I supposed to do, knowing you’re just as bad off about this as I am?”

Markus doesn’t want to get his hopes up. He doesn’t want to read into this, but:

“What does that- Are you?”

Connor lets Markus take all his weight. “I want to come home. As long as you keep helping people, and no one gets hurt, I’ll turn a blind eye. Just let me come home. I don’t want to be without you anymore.”

“Thank god. Oh, thank god.”

Maybe they will get their happily ever after, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> Iridescence is apparently a very expensive restaurant in Detroit. I can't say anything to the quality of their food. I just googled 'restaurant Detroit' and filtered it by the most $$$$, then went with the one I thought looked coolest.
> 
> The name of Markus's series, Agape, was inspired by the Bear's Den song of the same name. It's a Greek word for love, and the song is melancholy and beautiful as hell. Give it a listen if you have the time!
> 
> Lorena Bobbitt is a real person who did indeed cut off her husbands penis, and then proceeded to toss it into a field. From the details of the case, dude kind of had it coming, but police were able to locate his penis and reattach it. So there's that I guess lol.
> 
> Guess that's all. Comments always appreciated. Thanks for reading!


End file.
